Hi there and welcome to this month’s updates from the indie electronica underground. This month, as well as progressing with new tracks in the studio, we’ve discovered an awesome set of new alternative pop tunes that should be accessible to many.

Our first find this month was Private Browser, which is the latest demo from the experienced Levi Bloom and co-writer Richard Craker. This retro-tinged funk pop binds the soul of Motown-era Jackson 5 to the ebullience of Mika and Flight of the Conchords wit. Stabs of guitar punt the track along beneath Levi’s dynamic vocal range, and the intelligent, uncomplicated arrangement creates a really catchy song for the summer. Hopefully we’ll hear a lot more from Levi in the near future.

Next we checked out Modern Midas by Dana and the Wolf: This smash of hip hop and jazzy trap is driven by sultry beat poetry and hard-hitting production. Dana’s vocals rain down over beats that rock and sway beneath a mix peppered with sparse hits from the bass and synths. The result is an infectious and anthemic track from a powerful new duo that will command the stage in their upcoming live shows. Catch them in the U.S. if you can, and hope that they travel to see us over here in Europe some day!

Finally, we found What Do You Say which is the latest release by Skyepaint, a.k.a. Amos Wellings, who is one half of the Amos and Emily we reviewed way back in March last year. The track combines subtle trance-wave undertones with soulful and reflective vocals, building a steady rhythm into gentle arpeggios and a break of wow filters. The echo of the backing vocals creates a therapeutic and thoughtful ensemble, representing a mellow new direction for this talented producer and songwriter.

Greetings and welcome to our latest update from the world of underground electronica for the month of November 2017! This month, we ventured out of the shadows and into the big room trance of Transmission 2017 in Prague, where Gouryella and Aly + Fila rained down some awesome sets along with mesmeric laser lights and fireworks. Trance gigs like this really let the DJs work the room with tracks from many genres, and detected within the mixes at Transmission were classic club tunes going back fifteen years as well as nu punk sounds, all twisted and filtered live through the console. So a good trance gig is often honed from various sources, but where do original trance tracks come from? This month, we set ourselves a mission to find some original underground tracks that make up the sets of the live room …

First up are some examples from German producer DJ Magic who churns out a couple of tracks every day, covering all the sub-styles of trance which would sit well in any lengthy mix. Trance 50 builds from a complex percussive base of trills and fills, into a repetitive motif with echoing piano and chords which would calm the mood in a longer set. DJ Magic has a whole bunch of different components on his stream, and from hard trance to uplifting melodies these light-touch productions are waiting to be transported to the stage.

The hard house intro to Ryan Conway‘s Pirates soon drops into a Gaelic-tinged build, before the stuttering and shuffling bass line, garnished with vocal stabs, takes the track forward into throbbing off-beat bass. Drum fills and swells keep the rhythm alive, as classic risers finally build this short piece to its climax. This cogent production is plenty to keep the crowds pumping their fists in the club, and Conway’s stream exploits the harder end of the trance spectrum. All these tracks are well suited to building and sustaining the energy on the floor.

Nu weeny trance is one of a quite a few older tracks recently uploaded to the Swag Red Fox stream. This particular production is a hard floor thriller – the compression shows it can’t be contained by just your headphones, and can only be released to the floor by a sound system massive enough to take it. The buzzing cascade of synths and the hammer-fall of snare and banging bass drum hit home hard until a moody, dark drop churns and rumbles its minor eastern melody. This breakdown builds into a laid-back hip-hop beat, before it swirls back into flurrying hard tech – heavy stuff 😀